


A disgraced schoolgirl

by aimeewrites



Series: Atonement [3]
Category: Gentleman Jack (TV)
Genre: Corporal Punishment, F/F, Light BDSM, Light Dom/sub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 14:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20083705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimeewrites/pseuds/aimeewrites
Summary: as she is trying to atone for having let her appetite for the fairer sex overcome her, Anne remembers her school days(first line in bold from Anne's journals)





	A disgraced schoolgirl

** _“I love and only love the fairer sex and thus beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any love but theirs. _ ** _I should, however, maybe learn to exert caution and to restrain myself now that I am bound in marriage. Women have always been my life and the bane of it…”_

“Bent over, Lister! I will not repeat myself again – you know you deserve it!”

As she repressed a sigh – her wife would not condone the least trace of rebellion – and prepared to obey, Anne suddenly remember when those exact same words had been said to her…

« You are a disgrace, Miss Lister – to your sex and to your family. You behaved like a vulgar street urchin! Miss Knight told me you attacked her without cause, and Mrs Granger had to prise you from your defenceless classmate. If you have any excuse for your outrageous actions, I would like to hear it now.”

The thirteen-year-old lowered her eyes and concentrated on the pattern of the rug to keep from crying. She just would not give the headmistress that satisfaction. The latter’s words had cut deep, though. Even with her lack of fortune, or maybe because of it, she could not stand to be considered vulgar, something she hated in others. Moreover, she was devoted to her aunt and uncle, who were paying for her education, and she would not want to cause them any harm. If they learnt she was in disgrace…

“I will of course write to your uncle about this.”

“No! Please, no! You may punish me, but please do not tell them!”

Anne was jolted out of her silence by the threat. She bit her tongue, however, when she realised what she had said.

“I am glad I have your permission to chastise you, Miss Lister. And that you seem to realise the shamefulness of your behaviour. I shall ask you one more time – is there any possible cause for your action?”

Anne shook her head and remained silent. She was no tell-tales. The headmistress sighed – she liked the girl – bright, quick of mind, inventive, strong-willed… When Mrs Granger, the governess, had all but irrupted into her room, almost dragging Anne behind her, a dishevelled and red-faced Anne, she had wished, not for the first time, that the girl would applied her exceptional mind to obeying the rules instead of transgressing them at every opportunity. Hitting another girl! This had never happened and would never again during the time she remained at the head of the school. She would have to make an example of Anne.

“Very well, then – since you behaved like a naughty schoolboy, you shall get punished as one. Before the whole school!”

Anne stifled a gasp – she had been disciplined by the headmistress before, but in private. To suffer the indignity of a punishment before the other girls was almost more than she could bear. A single tear formed in her eyes and dropped on the rug. Seeing her pupil’s defeated attitude, and still not persuaded that her attack of the other girl had been unmotivated, the headmistress almost relented but she did not like to renege on her words. She rang for one of the governesses and asked her to gather the girls in the assembly room. Ten minutes later, the headmistress led Anne to the dais, where a single hard-back chair was standing guard, and explained to the wide-eyed assembly that their classmate’s behaviour had been so unladylike and so against the school’s code of conduct that she would make an example of her. Anne kept her eyes to the floor but at a stifled gasp from the assembly she briefly looked up and made eye contact with a small dark-haired, dark-skinned girl. The unspoken message must have been clear to the girl because she slumped back in the chair she had half-risen from. Other girls were uneasily murmuring – especially those who had been witnesses to the altercation between Anne and Mary Knight – and the governesses had to call several times for silence and order.

“Hold out your hand, Miss Lister – this will keep you from brawling like a common street child.”

Three times the cane hit Anne’s right palm, and she could not help grabbing it with her other hand to try and ease the pain. Under the headmistress’ imperious glare, however, she slowly let it go and extended her over hand. After three other strokes, Anne thought she might after all have gone off lightly – surely the punishment was over. She was therefore horror-struck when the headmistress spoke up again: “And now, I shall make sure no other lady here is tempted to act like a boy. Bent over, Miss Lister!”

Anne hesitated half a second, glanced again at the dark-skinned girl who seemed close to tears. At her previous school, she had been whipped, but she had still been a child then… Surely…

“Bent – over! I will not repeat myself again – you know you deserve it!”

Anne bent over the chair apprehensively. She felt the headmistress untie her pinafore and hitch up her dress and her petticoat, and a draught of cold air beat her ankles. Her cheeks flared as she realised she was standing in front of the whole school in her drawers. The cane swished and landed on her bottom, and she couldn’t help whimpering. When the second stroke hit, she gripped the chair harder, praying she would be able to withstand the whole chastisement. She received six strokes on her bottom and six on her thighs, and when she was ordered to stand up, she was crying, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. The rest of the punishment was easier for her since she was sent to solitary confinement for a day, and sentenced to write “I shall not fight with my fellow students” two hundred times. Her swollen palms made holding the quill uncomfortable, but at least she was not subjected to the indignity of being on display. And when she was finally released, Eliza had kissed her palms with such tenderness and caressed her welt with such devotion that she had cried again, of happiness. Wild horses would not have dragged from her that she had attacked Mary Knight because she had insulted Eliza and called her a “no-good nigger”…

Anne was brought back to the present by the sound of the cane swishing in the air, and her whole body shook in uneasy anticipation. Ann lowered the cane and came to kneel in front of Anne, so their eyes could meet. “You know you can tell me to stop, darling – I shall.”

“No, Ann – I need you to be severe. I only stole one chaste kiss from Miss Dunn, but that was one too many. I saw in my mind’s eye whatever could have happened next, and this is not right. We are married, and I must learn to curb my passion. You tried to reason with me many times, but I did not listen, so harsh discipline will have to replace soft words. Please punish me – hard.”

“Very well.”

Ann stood up and took the cane in her hand once more. “Do not move, Lister, or I shall begin again. You shall count the first six.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Anne tried to relax her body, knowing the strokes would be easier to take, but now that the time of atonement was upon her, she tensed instead.

“One, Ma’am” The cane had landed straight on her sit spot. “Two, Ma’am”. “Three, Ma’am” The pain reverberated through her skin and invaded her whole body, and as the sixth stroke fell, she felt the familiar moisture invade her nether regions, which both pleased and shamed her. She was thankful she did not have to count anymore, for she lost herself in the haze of pain and as her body shuddered and unconsciously writhed to avoid the instrument, her mind escaped to other realms where no one could reach her. When the beating stopped and she found herself helped up by Ann, it took her a little time to come to her senses, such were the sensations. Her heart beat a tattoo of urges and she hurriedly kissed Ann’s hand and the cane before tentatively reaching for her bosom. Surely, surely she was now forgiven her indiscretion? Her flesh had paid the price, her mind was clear, and now…

_“Put my hand between her breasts and caressed them both. Then I kissed her there, as deeply in her cleavage as I could. I rubbed her front, pressing queer to queer & took her lips with mine, & reached under her skirt… three good kisses last night – I grubbled pretty strongly and she caressed my welts with wonder. I swear her touch made the pain disappear; A- put some ointment on them for me this morning, and if I had toast & tea standing at the table, I now find I can sit on a cushion without too much discomfort.” _


End file.
